Chicago White Sox

We’re arguing semantics here, but I would consider trading important core pieces like Cease, Kopech, Crochet, or Vaughn to be an all-in move. I love Dunning but he is simply not that caliber of prospect.

The Lynn trade wasn’t an all-in move given where Dunning was in the pecking order. It definitely shifted future value into the 2021 season, but we still have Giolito plus Kopech, Cease, & Crochet as potential high-end arms ahead of him in our long-term plans.

How would free agent starters make us weaker when our #5 right now is Reynaldo Lopez?

I think Beef is grasping at straws here a bit with this Perez stuff. I’m sure we checked in on him, but I doubt we were ever serious. I still think Hahn is targeting Richards or Quintana and is playing a bit of chicken with them. If he fails in those pursuits and nothing materializes on the trade front, I could see Wainwright or Archer as backup plans, but I see those being last resorts.

I think Musgrove is far more interesting and would likely blow Quintana out of the water in terms of production. And Tanaka isn’t going to be cheap and will require multiple years. I’m not saying we should do the trade, but I could very easily see that being the price.

Musgrove for Kelley + Beard...who says no?

What have you heard on potential prices for Gray?

I think he should sign with a rebuilding club that won’t quickly move in another direction if he gets injured.

What is your proposed deal?

He had a partially torn UCL in 2016 and avoided getting TJS. Sounds like that was a poor decision that ultimately blew up on him and resulted in more lost time than necessary. I know there were other injuries mixed in there, but the dude was basically fully healthy last year. No doubt he is a risk, but if you believe the UCL is finally good to go, I’ll happily take him on a 1/$8M deal and hope I can get at least 100 quality innings out of him during the regular season and then for him to play a role on our postseason pitching staff.

It’s definitely not time to go all-in. If there’s a trade out there that makes sense then do it, but sacrificing the entire future for a couple of years is crazy. And being the AL favorite in January doesn’t guarantee you a World Series. Right now, we simply need to make sure we have enough depth to make it to July. I’ll maintain my position that adding Richards & La Stella does that. We can then hope some of our younger prospects take steps forward that allow us to add at the deadline without having to move core pieces like Kopech or Vaughn.

Tanaka is not taking a one year deal.

Now that would make much more sense for the Reds given their current roster.

Did he actually improve or did he simply play better in a small sample?

Fully agree...makes no sense IMO.

Aren’t both guys butchers in the field? I honestly can’t believe the Reds would be targeting guys like that for Castillo. Where would they even play?

It’s really that simple and why it’s so frustrating having Jerry as owner. There is zero excuse for us not to be a beast in the AL Central, especially with Pizza Man now gone. All we have to do is spend like a big market team and we could put our foot on the throat of theses mid & small market clubs. Unfortunately, Jerry lacks any killer instinct and prioritizes not losing any money above all else.

Exactly...just take the money and burn it in a dumpster, because Hahn has shown zero ability to be successful in this tier for pitching.

Man will I be pissed if they resort to that level of starter. I’d literally rather have them go with Lopez as our interim #4 and use that $3M to $5M towards Nelson Cruz as DH. This feels like Gio Gonzalez all over again and that’s simply not acceptable at this stage of our competitive window.

Because we don’t have a #2 starter? Who do you expect to fill that role if we don’t trade for Lynn and what’s the potential cost?

I agree with this.

I love Heuer, but if he can be the 1b piece in a trade for a controllable starter then I’m 100% good with that.

So you’re answer is what, punt the 2021 season for a guy who would likely be competing for a rotation spot with Crochet next year?

Exactly

I personally think Lopez is quite valuable at $2M and would rather keep him. He’s cheap depth who can hopefully eat a lot of innings if other things go wrong. Jerry should just foot an extra $2M and not force us to trade off inexpensive depth pieces.